Master the Match game with these insights

As far as subjects of interest to medical students go, Match moves the meter more than most. In 2017, AMA Wire® offered several articles on the topic, including an examination of how new technology may affect applications and interviews, accounts from residents about how med students can best approach the Match process and the courses of action that might allow medical students who don’t match to continue to pursue a career in medicine.

Here’s a look at our most read and most relevant articles on Match from the past year.

Pilot project offers another view of Match applicants’ skills. When it comes to practicing medicine, there are tangible qualities and knowledge bases that make a physician effective. Then there are the intangibles. A new program is attempting to measure the latter, and it doesn’t require a visit to a testing center. The Standardized Video Interview is a tool aimed at allowing students to share their skills that might not be as evident through their academic metrics.

Match ranking advice: Trust your gut. Matt Lecuyer, MD, is a pediatric emergency medicine fellow at Brown University. He has gone through Match twice and is thrilled with the results. But he knows how stressful it is, not because of the process of submitting a rank list, but because of the emotions and the churning thoughts leading up to Match Day. He has several pieces of advice for students about to go through Match ranking. The first is probably what most medical students would like to hear: Follow your heart.

A resident’s advice on Match ranking: You are in control. As medical students consider their options ahead of the deadline for certifying their rank-order lists, a third-year resident shares his insights into the ranking thought process. The point on which he is most adamant: The choice is yours.

What if you don’t match? 3 things you should do. Some medical students participating in the Main Residency Match who get the unfortunate news that they did not match and who are then unsuccessful in obtaining a position through SOAP, the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program, might wonder what their options are for keeping their dreams of a career as a doctor alive. A physician who has worked with unmatched applicants explains how to make the most of the coming year and improve the odds of matching the next time around.